Unified Theater: Putting the Spotlight on Ability

Calling all Broadway buffs and actors-in-training — we’d like to introduce one of the most inspiring groups of thespians around: Unified Theater, a 10-year-old troupe that began in West Hartford, Conn., and is now part of more than 30 middle schools and high schools across the country.

Unified Theater isn’t your typical theater group: It’s comprised of students from all walks of life who come together to help break down the barriers that too often exist between people with disabilities, including autism, Down syndrome, and physical disabilities, and people without disabilities. And they’re doing so one theatrical performance at a time.

Recently, Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca — hosts of Everyday Health — visited the students at Conard High School in West Hartford to see what they were working on. Here, they learned about Unified Theater’s incredible story and met the two courageous cousins who founded it. Learn more about Unified Theater in the Everyday Health episode airing Nov. 12 or 13 on your local ABC station (check local listings here ).

Cousinly Love

Born only three months apart, Micaela Connery and her cousin Kelsey O'Connor were inseparable from their earliest days. The one issue that could have set them apart — Kelsey was born with significant disabilities — didn’t. Concerns like Kelsey’s difficulties with speech and inability to walk weren’t a big deal to Micaela; instead, their friendship was grounded in all the things they had in common. The girls grew up bonding over their shared love of music and picnics on the beach. “We were just really good friends,” says Micaela, now 24.

But Micaela soon discovered that not everyone saw beyond disability: “When I got to high school, it was weird to see that kids with disabilities were this sort of invisible, separate community within the school.”

A Theater Group Is Born!

When Micaela was 15, she was inspired by Kelsey to start a theater group that would bring together kids with disabilities and kids without them. “It was the concept of including people with disabilities,” says Micaela, who describes herself as a total theater dork. “A youth-led movement toward full inclusion.”

Micaela explains, “Kelsey taught me so much about life — to see ability first, to never take things too seriously, and to savor each moment of joy and the people who bring it into our lives.” She hoped the group, which she named Unified Theater, could help others do the same.

That first group included about 15 kids. After a few meetings and run-throughs at Micaela’s house, they were performing in front of an audience of about 300 people at Micaela’s high school, Conard High School in West Hartford, Conn. “Our first show had a sixties theme,” Micaela remembers. “We had some MLK [Martin Luther King, Jr.]; we had a little Woodstock; and we had the Beatles.”

Julie Rigby

Today the Theater Group Is Thriving

Ten years later, Unified Theater has expanded to 31 different schools in six states, and nearly 3,000 young adults have gotten involved. Performances run the gamut — from “Under the Sea” to “Hollywood, Revealed” — and the groups are free to perform whatever they feel like. “The students do everything,” says Micaela, including writing, directing, stage managing, fundraising (and even working the lights). Unified Theater groups are completely student-run; they’re not organized by teachers or parents. “There’s so much pressure in schools these days. This is an opportunity for students to own a process and define what success is.”

There’s just one rule that every participant must follow: inclusion. As the Unified Theater Web site describes it: “We respect each member as an absolute equal who is capable of unique contributions throughout the process.”

Michelle Gardella Photography

Meet the Stars of Unified Theater!

Want to try out for Unified Theater? Congrats — you’re in! The group welcomes participation from all middle-school and high-school students — whether you have a disability, no disability, or no acting skills whatsoever.

The average Unified Theater group is comprised of about 40 to 50 young thespians, but performances have included anywhere from 15 to 200 students. And Micaela is excited to say that this number keeps growing.

“There’s something about bringing kids with and without disabilities together,” she says. “It’s very powerful.” Of the participants, 30 to 40 percent tend to have a disability. Micaela says that typically, it’s the students without disabilities who have the most to gain from the program. “They’ll end up saying, ‘Hey, we’re not so different after all.’ Then, suddenly they’re realizing that they’re not so different from someone of another race, or from someone who is gay.”

Unified Theater's TV Debut

Back at the very same high school Micaela attended in Connecticut (and where Unified Theater got its start), the students recently got a special visit from Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca, the hosts of Everyday Health.

It wasn’t long before Ethan and Jenna, past Survivor winners, were put to work: Not only did they master the performance’s choreography, they were tasked with helping the students make tie-dye T-shirts for the show (yes, Unified Theater participants make their own costumes, too!) — and with growing the audience for the group’s upcoming performance.

Ethan and Jenna pulled some strings at the local Six Flags and booked “Center Stage” — an outdoor theater in the middle of the park that seats about 300 people. But when performance day arrived, so did the rain. Would they still be able to perform?

Michelle Gardella Photography

The Show Must Go On!

Rain or shine, the tie-dye-clad members of Unified Theater performed (albeit, on a new indoor stage), and it was a hit — especially their brand-new theme song about being unified. Micaela was more than pleased with the show: “We’re not about perfection, but that was perfect!” she said afterward.

But even more important than the size of the audience or getting the dance moves down pat was what the students get out of it. “As soon as I’m on stage, we all connect, we’re all together, we’re all unified,” said Michael, a Unified Theater member.

Michelle Gardella Photography

What's Next for Unified Theater?

More and more schools continue to contact Unified Theater to show their interest in starting their own chapters. “Our hope is that Unified Theater will become as commonplace in schools as a student council or the basketball team,” Micaela says. “More importantly, we hope that Unified Theater will help build communities where people see ability first and realize we're united by our similarities more than divided by our differences. A world where young leaders are valued as game changers in the movement toward full inclusion.”

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